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Able v. United States
Lieutenant Colonel Jane Able, et al. v. United States of America, ''et al., is a case from the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit that upheld the Don't ask, don't tell (DADT) (10 USC 654) law against various constitutional challenges. 88 F.3d 1280 (2nd Cir. 1996) ("Able I") 155 F.3d 628 (2nd Cir. 1998) ("Able II") ''Both ''Able I ''and ''Able II ''overruled district court decisions striking down DADT as unconstitutional. Case History Six gay or lesbian members of the armed forces- Lieutenant Colonel Jane Able, Petty Officer Robert Heigl, First Lieutenant Kenneth Osborn, Sergeant Steven Spencer, Lieutenant Richard Von Wohld, and Seaman Werner Zehr- had filed suit in the Eastern District of New York challenging the constitutionality of the then-new DADT policy. The case was assigned to U.S. District Court Judge Eugene Nickerson. When the Defense Department initiated an investigation into Petty Officer Heigl to determine if he was a homosexual, the district court issed a preliminary injunction against the investigation of him and the other plaintiffs.847 F.Supp. 1038. (E.D.N.Y. 1994) The Second Circuit, while determining "that the district court had applied the wrong standard in deciding to issue the preliminary injunctions", stayed the lifting of the injunction pending a merits trial.44 F.3d 128 (2nd Cir. 1995) Accessed July 11, 2011 The district court dismissed the plaintiffs' challenges to Section 654 (b) (1) and (3), as well as their expressive association challenge, on the basis that they lacked standing. The court then, following a trial, held that section 654 (b) (2) violated the First and Fifth Amendments to the United States Constitution, thus becoming the first court to do so.''Able I 870 F.Supp. 468 (E.D.N.Y. 1995)Military Policy On Gays Ruled `Orwellian' by Lisa Anderson Chicago Tribune, March 31, 1995 Accessed July 11, 2011 On appeal, the Second Circuit vacated the 1995 ruling. They ruled that plaintiffs had standing to challenge the Section 654 (b) (1) and (3), as well as their expressive association challenge. They also vacated and remanded to the district court the First and Fifth Amendment rulings, on the basis that the "new policy strikes a reasonable balance between the competing interests and because the policy is important to the military's accomplishment of its objectives, we find that it restrains speech no more than is reasonably necessary" and "the ...assumption ...that the ban on homosexual acts found in § 654(b)(1) is valid under the Constitution." [http://openjurist.org/88/f3d/1280/able-v-united-states-j-f Able I 88F.3d 1280 (1996)] Accessed July 11, 2011 On remand, Judge Nickerson struck down the acts provision of DADT (Section 654(b)(1)) as a violation of the equal protection component of the Fifth Amendment.Able II, 968 F.Supp. 850 at 865 (E.D.N.Y. 1997) On appeal from that decision, the Second Circuit reversed, on the basis that "given the strong presumption of validity Court gives to classifications under rational basis review and the special respect accorded to Congress's decisions regarding military matters, they will not substitute their judgment for that of Congress" and "that Congress has proffered adequate justifications for the Act". It should be noted that, as the plaintiff-appellees asserted at oral argument "that they were not seeking any more onerous standard than the rational basis test", the Court applied rational basis review without deciding whether that was the appropriate standard for review.[http://openjurist.org/155/f3d/628/able-v-united-states-s-e Able II 155 F.3d 628 (1998)] Accessed July 11, 2011 References External links * * Category:United States substantive due process case law Category:United States LGBT rights case law Category:1998 in LGBT history Category:1998 in United States case law Category:Don't ask, don't tell Category:United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit cases Category:United States military case law Category:United States Court of Appeals case articles without infoboxes